Fun with Forms!*

Or, "Silliness with Stanchions!"

("Vivacity with Vitrines"?)

*Credit for the title goes to my co-volunteer, Miss S!

I was privileged to assist with a small, local exhibition in the last few weeks.  One of my historic house friends was on the exhibition committee and, because of my museum background, asked if I'd like to help out.  The timing wasn't great, but the request was tempting.  So I said yes.  And I'm so glad I did.  Besides the actual experience of creating and installing an exhibition, I especially enjoyed meeting and working with some wonderful people, whom I hope I see again soon.

Of course, in my museum career I was an educator--not a curator, an exhibition designer, a registrar, or an art handler.  But I know how to write label copy and have strong opinions about didactics.  So, I helped write some explanatory text.  Short, concise, coherent.

And then I helped with many other things, from choosing the objects to assisting with the design plan, from discussing the theme of the exhibition to exploring accessibility issues (spacing, label font size), from considering installations (which topic where, groupings of objects) to considering exhibition design (like backdrops), from mounting text and photos to installing objects.  It was great fun . . .particularly because I wasn't in charge of anything, knew none of the politics, and came and went as I could.  I was like a guest at a museum buffet.

And it was good.

So, why "fun with forms?"  Because several times I helped dress mannequins, having to pin them together, rearrange drapery, relocate dress forms, stuff batting up sleeves, and, most amusingly, use batting to turn a female dress form into a man!  By then, my co-volunteers and I definitely had the giggles and nothing could have been funnier.

In many ways, this was much more fun than actually working in a museum with objects and exhibition professionals could ever be . . . and I know--because I was often shushed away by tense registrars and handlers, much less ever allowed to touch anything!